October 03, 2026 05:46 pm (IST)
Follow us:
Syria: UN urges complete removal of chemical weapons
New York, May 9 (IBNS): The head of the Joint Mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations (OPCW-UN) on Thursday called for safe and unfettered access to the remaining eight per cent of Syria's chemical weapons material that needs to be removed and destroyed.
Speaking to reporters after a closed-door briefing to the UN Security Council, Special Coordinator Sigrid Kaag recalled that 92 per cent of Syria’s chemical weapons have been removed or destroyed in country so far.
The remaining eight per cent is currently inaccessible due to the security conditions, Kaag said, stressing that unfettered access is critical to ensure that the operation can be concluded quickly and on time.
“Significant milestones have been met but we do need that final push to achieve 100 per cent and to complete the work as foreseen in the entire chemical weapons elimination programme.”
The removal of the most critical material for destruction began in early January, in line with an agreement brokered by Russia and the United States, by which Syria renounced its chemical weapons material and joined 1992 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons.
As per the decisions taken by the Security Council and the OPCW Executive Council, the full arsenal of Syria’s chemical weapons should be destroyed by 30 June 2014.
Kaag noted that all that remains is the removal of 16 containers. “Then the operation can be concluded very quickly. It’s a matter of less than a working week in its totality and that allows the authorities to stay as close to the 30 June deadline as possible.”
[Sigrid Kaag (top right), Special Coordinator of the Joint Mission of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the UN to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons programme, speaks to journalists following a closed-door meeting of the Security Council on Syria. Photo: UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras]
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Latest Headlines
UAE calls Flydubai cockpit attack a ‘terrorist act’; Omani pilot tried to take control
Sat, Oct 03 2026
flydubai cockpit attack: Deleted posts expose Omani co-pilot’s views on women, alleged extremist past
Sat, Oct 03 2026
flydubai cockpit horror: Omani co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami attacked Captain Smit Machchhar with crash axe, tried to seize control
Sat, Oct 03 2026
flydubai temporarily suspends all Israel flights after co-pilot’s alleged cockpit attack, crash attempt
Sat, Oct 03 2026
Grounded in Oman over ‘radical views’, then hired by flydubai: What we know about Omani pilot Hamam al-Hammami
Sat, Oct 03 2026
Flydubai co-pilot who stabbed Smit Machchhar identified, was banned from flying by Oman due to suspected extremism: Report
Sat, Oct 03 2026
UK-Iranian national arrested over RAF Fairford terror plot probe
Fri, Oct 02 2026